ACC moves to revive barge-mounted power plant case against Hasina

The Anti-Corruption Commission has made a move to revive the 18-year-old barge-mounted power plant corruption case against deposed former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

It filed a leave-to-appeal petition with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on March 5 this year challenging a High Court verdict that scrapped the trial proceedings against Hasina, who flew to India on August 5 last year following an uprising.

A three-member bench of the Appellate Division led by Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury set July 15 for hearing as the petition was in yesterday's cause list of the bench, ACC's lawyer Ashif Hassan told The Daily Star.

He said the commission in the petition sought condonation of delay for 5,452 days to file the petition from the date of HC verdict.

Usually, such a petition is supposed to be filed within 30 days from the date of the delivery of the HC judgement, the lawyer said, adding that the time for releasing the certified copy of the HC judgement is included in the stipulated 30 days.

Lawyer Ashif, however, refused to say the details of the grounds of the leave to appeal petition and seeking condonation of delay in filing this petition.

On April 13, 2010, the HC in a verdict quashed the proceedings against Hasina in the barge-mounted power plant graft case filed by the ACC during the military-backed caretaker government.

An HC bench of Justice Md Shamsul Huda (now retired) and Justice Abu Bakar Siddiquee (now retired) delivered the verdict upon a petition filed by Hasina for quashing the proceedings against her.

The anti-graft body lodged the case with Tejgaon Police Station on September 2, 2007, accusing Hasina and six others of corruption in setting up a barge-mounted power plant in Khulna.